Inspired by actual events in 1969, this beautifully illustrated book tells the story of how people in East Harlem, New York united with the Young Lords Organization to spark positive neighborhood changes.Vicki and A Summer of Change! ¡Vicki y un verano de cambio! follows Vicki and Valentina, her older sister, who live in East Harlem/El Barrio. The streets are overrun with rotting garbage because sanitation trucks rarely pick up trash in the neighborhood. Children and adults are getting sick.Members of the Young Lords Organization, Puerto Ricans, Latinx, and African Americans, start sweeping the streets. Valentina encourages Vicki to take part saying, "You're never too young to make a difference!" The sisters eagerly join their neighbors and discover that they can help change the world.
Against the backdrop of America's escalating urban rebellions in the 1960s, an unexpected cohort of New York radicals unleashed a series of urban guerrilla actions against the city's racist policies and contempt for the poor. Their dramatic flair, uncompromising socialist vision for a new society, skillful ability to link local problems to international crises, and uncompromising vision for a new society riveted the media, alarmed New York's political class, and challenged nationwide perceptions of civil rights and black power protest. The group called itself the Young Lords. Utilizing oral histories, archival records, and an enormous cache of police surveillance files released only after a decade-long Freedom of Information Law request and subsequent court battle, Johanna Fernandez has written the definitive account of the Young Lords, from their roots as a Chicago street gang to their rise and fall as a political organization in New York. Led by poor and working-class Puerto Rican youth, and consciously fashioned after the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords occupied a hospital, blocked traffic with uncollected garbage, took over a church, tested children for lead poisoning, defended prisoners, fought the military police, and fed breakfast to poor children. Their imaginative, irreverent protests and media conscious tactics won reforms, popularized socialism in the United States and exposed U.S. mainland audiences to the country's quiet imperial project in Puerto Rico. Fernandez challenges what we think we know about the sixties. She shows that movement organizers were concerned with finding solutions to problems as pedestrian as garbage collection and the removal of lead paint from tenement walls; gentrification; lack of access to medical care; childcare for working mothers; and the warehousing of people who could not be employed in deindustrialized cities. The Young Lords' politics and preoccupations, especially those concerning the rise of permanent unemployment foretold the end of the American Dream. In riveting style, Fernandez demonstrates how the Young Lords redefined the character of protest, the color of politics, and the cadence of popular urban culture in the age of great dreams.
THROUGH THE EYES OF REBEL WOMEN: The Young Lords, 1969-1976 is the first account of women members. They fought the "revolution within the revolution" believing that women's equality was inseparable from society's progress as a whole. Written and edited by Iris Morales, the book includes essays, interviews, and primary documents.
Known for writings about the Latino experience in the United States, Jose Angel Figueroa has been a major contributor to the Puerto Rican and Latino literary movement. A Mirror In My Own Backstage explores themes of migration and social justice as well as philosophical-existential reflections about love and the human experience. "This collection gives testament to Figueroa's poetic evolution; it includes some of his most classic poems along with a new crop of innovative work by this accomplished and gifted artist who masters his craft," writes distinguished scholar Edna Acosta Belen. Jose Angel "brings a unique music and imagery to the definition of what American poetry is," remarks Newark Poet Laureate Amiri Baraka. The cover and interior artwork were created by Juan Sanchez, well-known for his work combining painting and photography with media clippings and found objects to expose America's policies and practices in Puerto Rico, and obstacles facing Puerto Ricans in the U.S."
On September 20, 2017, Hurricane Maria pummeled Puerto Rico--the most devastating cyclone to strike the island in almost a century. In this collection, twenty-two activists, artists, front-line organizers, and institution builders describe the storm's deadly impact on a people already living under oppressive conditions resulting from more than 120 years of US colonialism. The first-person accounts, poetry, and essays detail how Puerto Ricans organized themselves in the hurricane's immediate aftermath. The growing activism opens a new chapter in the fight for self-determination and freedom from colonialism and exploitation.---------------El 20 de septiembre de 2017, el huracán María azotó a Puerto Rico--el ciclón más devastador que golpeó la isla en casi un siglo. En esta colección, veintidós activistas, artistas, organizadores, y formadores de instituciones describen el impacto mortal de la tormenta en un pueblo que ya vive condiciones opresivas como resultado de más de 120 años de colonialismo estadounidense. Los relatos, la poesía, y los ensayos detallan cómo los puertorriqueños se movilizaron y organizaron inmediatamente después del huracán. El creciente activismo abre un nuevo capítulo en la lucha por la autodeterminación y la lucha por liberarse del colonialismo y la explotación.
Finalist for the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers It is the mid-1800s. Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico, where her mistress is only too happy to benefit from her impressive embroidery skills. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land. Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world. Concha, unsure of her place, doesn't realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past. Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to the United States, where she will struggle to keep her family together. Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart. The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis and ultimately connecting them to one another. Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa shows great skill and warmth in the telling of this heartbreaking, inspirational story about mothers and daughters, and the ways in which they hurt and save one another.
You’ll be amazed to discover all the different reasons why animals have spots! What kinds of animals have spots and why do they have them? With engaging rhymes and bright, bold images, award-winning author-illustrator Susan Stockdale introduces readers to a range of spotted animals, familiar and exotic, and some of the benefits of their patterns. In addition to providing beauty and inspiration, spots can help a creature masquerade as a different, more threatening species, provide camouflage for hunting or hiding, or scare off predators. From the ladybug to the blue poison dart frog, the green anaconda to the white-tailed deer fawn, these spectacularly spotted creatures will delight and fascinate budding naturalists. This entrancing companion to Stripes of All Types (130,000 copies sold in a variety of formats) features energetic rhyming text and beautifully detailed paintings that pop off the page. An afterword tells a little bit more about each animal and where it lives, and readers can test their knowledge of animal spots with a fun matching game at the end.
A two-act play about two brothers growing up in the Bronx in the 1970s. When Johnny Gonzales loses his younger brother, Cisco, it becomes his responsibility to clean out his deceased brother's apartment. While cleaning the apartment, Johnny discovers a shoebox filled with pages and pages of notes and stories of their past. He dives head first into Cisco's off beat world and discovers a brother he never really knew.
This exciting new anthology gathers together Puerto Rican folktales that were passed down orally for generations before finally being transcribed beginning in 1914 by the team of famous anthropologist Franz Boas. These charming tales give readers a window into the imaginations and aspirations of Puerto Rico’s peasants, the Jíbaro. Some stories provide a distinctive Caribbean twist on classic tales including “Snow White” and “Cinderella.” Others fictionalize the lives of local historical figures, such as infamous pirate Roberto Cofresí, rendered here as a Robin Hood figure who subverts the colonial social order. The collection also introduces such beloved local characters as Cucarachita Martina, the kind cockroach who falls in love with Ratoncito Pérez, her devoted mouse husband who brings her delicious food. Including a fresh English translation of each folktale as well as the original Spanish version, the collection also contains an introduction from literary historian Rafael Ocasio that highlights the historical importance of these tales and the Jíbaro cultural values they impart. These vibrant, funny, and poignant stories will give readers unique insights into Puerto Rico’s rich cultural heritage. Esta nueva y emocionante antología reúne cuentos populares puertorriqueños que fueron transmitidos oralmente durante generaciones antes de ser finalmente transcritos comenzando en 1914 por el equipo del famoso antropólogo Franz Boas. Estos encantadores cuentos ofrecen a los lectores un vistazo a la imaginación y las aspiraciones de los jíbaros, los campesinos de Puerto Rico. Algunas historias brindan un distintivo toque caribeño a cuentos clásicos como "Blanca Nieves" y "Cenicienta". Otros ficcionalizan la vida de personajes históricos locales, como el famoso pirata Roberto Cofresí, representado como una figura al estilo de Robin Hood, quien subvierte el orden social colonial. La colección también presenta personajes locales tan queridos como Cucarachita Martina, la amable cucaracha que se enamora de Ratoncito Pérez, su devoto esposo ratón que le trae deliciosa comida. Incluyendo una nueva traducción al inglés de estos cuentos populares, así como las versiones originales en español, la colección también contiene una introducción del historiador literario Rafael Ocasio, quien destaca la importancia histórica de estos cuentos y los valores culturales del jíbaro que éstos imparten en los relatos. Estas historias vibrantes, divertidas y conmovedoras brindarán a los lectores una visión única de la rica herencia cultural de Puerto Rico. Introducción en español (https://d3tto5i5w9ogdd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/03154419/Ocasio_Cuentos_Intro_Espan%CC%83ol.pdf)
